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OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



OYER THE BLACK 
COFEEE 



COMPILED BY 

ARTHUR GRAY 







NEW YORK 

THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY 

Union Square, North 



THF UBRAffY OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two Cowfcs Reosiveo 

OCT, 10 1902 

^COPVPIQHT ENTRY 

CLASS rt- XXo. No, 

S ^ 1 * ? 

copy 3. 



* \V1 



• •• ••• 

• • • • • ' 



Copyright 1902 
The Baker and Taylor Company 

Published September, 1902 



i • t * * o 



Printed at The Fraser Press 
Brooklyn, New York 

Decorations by George W. Hood 



They have in Turkey a drink called Coffee, 
made of a Berry of the same name, as Black as 
Soot y and of a Strong Scent, but not Aromatical; 
which they take, beaten into Powder, in Water, 
as Hot as they can Brink it ; and they take it, 
and sit at it in their Coffee Bouses, which are 
like our Taverns. The Drink comforteth the 
Brain and Heart, and helpeth Digestion. 

—Francis Bacon. 



NOTE. 

The compiler acknowledges his thanks to 
Messrs. Harper & Brothers and W. D. Howells 
for their permission to use the poem taken 
from Mr. Howell's "Modern Italian Poets." 
Thanks are also due to Mr. Saltus for permission 
to use the sonnet on " Coffee/' by his son Francis 
Saltus Saltus, and which appears in his hook, 
" Flasks and Flagons." 



INTRODUCTION 

Since the real civilizing of coffee 
as a drink— we will have to thank 
Constantinople for that — no bever- 
age has compared with it in the 
social and companionable qualities 
it imparts. Tea has always been, 
and will always be, a soft, soothing, 
purring, gossipy decoction for gen- 
tle women and men of mild power 
and peaceful walks. It suggests 
the Celestial and his low browed 
laundry, side ringlets, respecta- 
bility, and the fireside cat. 

Coffee, on the other hand, has 
ever been associated with the robust, 
daring, and the adventurous. The 



INTRODUCTION 

scenes in which this little brown 
berry plays its part are those of the 
sea and the saddle, the mess room, 
the end of the long march, the camp 
in the woods, the lone prospector 
over the mountain range at dusk, 
the weary traveller in the wayside 
inn, visions of Venuses in railroad 
restaurants and lightning -change 
landscapes, en route. 

What man is there among us 
who has not passed through some 
of these experiences ? 

Who can successfully deny that 
coffee has not been a great factor 
in the making and unmaking of 
nations ! 

Who does not know that in the 
famous coffee-houses of the past 
many a leader found his first voice ; 
many a good and many a bad plot 



INTRODUCTION 

have been hatched, many a strong 
and many a weak cup of coffee 
have been responsible for these 
plots ? And they are history, and 
men are the cause of it. 

And this little book, as it treats 
of these things, should appeal to 
men. 

Although coffee has not escaped 
u in the making of many books," 
nevertheless the compiler of this 
volume believes that this is the 
first attempt to approach the sub- 
ject from the human side. 

That the book may be successful 
in this, to a more or less degree, 
it is to be hoped. 

In that case, to the wakeful, warm- 
blooded, active man it will be found 
to contain some good memories and 
new inspirations. 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 




COFFEE IN HISTORY 

|HBEB are two things 
Frenchmen will never 
swallow — Bacine's po- 
etry, and coffee/' wrote 
Madame de Sevigne, in 1669, when 
Solomon Aga, the Sultan's ambas- 
sador to the court of Louis XIV ? 
was treating the nobility of France 
to its first drink of coffee. Mme. 
de Sevigne was not the only one to 
make wry faces over coffee, with 
its hot, black decoction of muddy 
grounds, thickened with syrup. 
She did not know what a stimulant 
to jaded brains it would be, nor 
1 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

what a restorative of sparkless wit. 
But she lived long enough to see 
her prophecy fail in both instances, 
for Eacine's poetry was swallowed, 
and coffee was drunk by the gallon 
long before she died. 

The liquids up to 1669 were: 
home-brewed beer, apple and pear 
cider, honey-and- water, water, milk, 
and the juice of the grape. 

England was ahead of France in 
the drinking of coffee, for in 1657 
(May 19th), the Publiek Advertiser 
printed this quaint and curious ad : 

"In Bartholomew Lane, on the 
backside of the old Exchange, the 
drink called Coffee, which is a very 
wholesom and Physical drink, hav- 
ing many excellent virtues, closes 
the orifice of the Stomach, fortifies 
the heat within, helpeth Digestion, 
quickeneth the Spirits, maketh the 
heart lightsom, is good against Eye- 
sores, Coughs or Colds, Rhumes, 
Consumptions, Headache, Dropsie, 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Gout, Scurvy, King's Evil, and many 
others, is to be sold both in the 
morning, and at three of the clock 
in the afternoon. 

But coffee's day did not last long, 
for tea carae simmering into London 
shortly after its advent, and all 
London became tea drunkards. 

In 1658, coffee was sold u at Sul- 
taner's-head, a Cophee- house, in 
Sweeting's Bents, by the Eoyal 
Exchange, London." 

Almost from its introduction to 
the present day, or for 233 years, 
coffee has been the favorite drink 
in Paris. That beats whiskey in 
Ireland or Scotland, the great whis- 
key-absorbing countries of the 
world, although beer holds the blue 
ribbon as the longest favorite drink 
on record — in England. Water, in 
England, is a side issue, and is val- 

3 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

uable for dish -washing purposes 
only. It is drunk there on compul- 
sion. But coffee is the drink of 
France. In 1669, France had no 
more nerves than England, nor for 
a century after, when she began to 
realize that she was a Nation of 
Nerves. One of the greatest things 
that ever happened would not have 
happened but for coffee. In other 
words, coffee changed the map of 
Europe, made Napoleon, and an 
Irish soldier the great Duke of 
Wellington. In a word, coffee made 
France a nation of nerves ; nerves 
made the French Eevolution; which 
made Napoleon ; who made Mr. 
Arthur Wellesley a conqueror and 
duke. 

The first coffee house in Paris 
opened in 1672, at the Fair of St. 

4 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Germain. Was it Voltaire or Di- 
derot who said, in the Caf6 Procope, 
where they both took their coffee, 
tilted at creeds, and attacked Shake- 
speare and high heaven : u Our 
cradle was a cafe " ? One of them 
said it, and truly said it, for the 
cradle of the French Eepublic of 
to-day surely was a caf<6, and coffee 
made cafes. 

Pascal, an Armenian, was the pro- 
prietor of the first caf6. He came 
to Paris all the way from Constan- 
tinople, little thinking of his great 
destiny in being the cause of the 
French Revolution and Napoleon, 
a reconstructed Europe, and the 
sale of Louisiana to the United 
States. But for that little insignifi- 
cant Pascal, Albert Wettin might 
to-day be king of this country as 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

he is of Great Britain ; for without 
France's aid in the Bevolution, 
where would our glorious Wash- 
ington have been ? and without 

Washington, where would we be ? 

# # # # # # # 

Pascal was accompanied from 
Constantinople by his own waiter- 
boys. Prior to his appearance up- 
on the Parisian stage of life, other 
restaurants sold the before -men- 
tioned liquids, with cakes, ginger- 
bread, sausages, ham and, sinkers, 
spices, preserves, Portuguese or- 
anges, dates, figs, nuts, and fruits 
of many countries ; but Pascal sold 
only coffee, and threw his competi- 
tors into a green and frightful rage. 
As business improved, Pascal sent 
his waiter-boys throughout the city 
with coffee-pots, heated by lamps, 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

and little side-dishes of nougat, 
made of almonds and honey, and 
other Oriental sweets. He tempt- 
ed the Parisian at his door and 
window, knowing, at that early 
day, that no Parisian could resist 
temptation. He made a fortune, 
and for seventeen years nobody 
ever dreamed that coffee could be 
made except by a little chap from 
Turkey. Lords and ladies, mere 
men and women, girls and boys, 
hooks and crooks, thugs and mugs, 
all drank the delicious new and 
strange concoction. 

But, in 1689, an Italian, who had 
been watching Pascal, saw a great 
white light, and opened a cafe 
across the street from the Oomedie 
Frangaise. He had a royal license 
to sell spices, ices, barley-water, 

7 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

circus lemonade, and milk, when 
he added coffee to his menu, and it 
proved the beginning of his fortune. 
He called his place a cafe, and af- 
terwards swore that his cafe was 
the first cafe. That was Procope, 
and his place was known as u . The 
Cafe Procope." He called himself 
an Italian, but he was from Sicily. 
His was the greatest cafe the world 
has ever known, as it was the trun- 
dle-bed of Liberty. 

Coffee was first found growing 
wild in Arabia, so the legend runs. 
Hadji Omar, a dervish, discovered 
it in 1285, six hundred and seven- 
teen years ago. He was outlawed 
from Mocha for asking the ten-mil- 
lionaire "boss" of Mocha: "Where 
did you get It "? He was dying of 
hunger in the wilderness, when his 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

glazing eyes saw some small, round 
berries. He ate some, but they were 
bitter. He roasted some, and they 
were better. He steeped the roast- 
ed berries in a running brook's wa- 
ter, held in the hollow of his hand, 
and they were as good as solid food. 
He ran back to Mocha, found the 
"boss" dead and his filthy millions 
scattered, made some coffee, invited 
the wise men of Mocha to drink, 
and in their gratitude they made 
him a saint. 

The little brown Arabian bean 
grows in the East and West Indies, 
and in Central and Southern Amer- 
ica, too. It makes the one drink 
famous the wide world over. In 
the English provinces, it was once 
spelled without any letter that is in 
it to-day. That seems a reckless 

9 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

sort of statement, but here it is: 
Kawphy. The Malays spelled it 
Kawah ; but from Kaffa, in East- 
ern Africa, it derived its present 
name, Coffee, though originally 
spelled Kauli. 

In 1554, it became the favorite 
drink at Constantinople, and rob- 
bed the mosques of their worship- 
pers, to the disgust of the priests, 
who swore by Allah that the roast- 
ed berries were the coals of the evil 
one, and as such must be outlawed. 
To please the priests it was taxed, 
but it was drunk copiously in se- 
cret, then openly again. Eefusing 
to supply a wife with coffee was a 
valid cause for divorce. 

It was introduced in Venice, by 
a descendant of "the Merchant, in 
1615, and it was known in Marseil- 

10 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

les in 1644, fifty-five years before it 
became popular in Paris. 

In the last half of the seventeenth 
century, its popularity was at its 
height in London, and "Wills's 
Coffee-house," at the corner of West 
Bow Street and Covent Garden, 
was also known as "The Wits,' 7 
for in Wills's " Glorious John" Dry- 
den, an earlier Doctor Johnson, but ■ 
without Johnson's brutality in ar- 
gument, let his pupils flatter him, 
as he laid down poetic and literary 
laws, as Samuel Johnson laid them 
down almost a century later in "The 
Cheshire Cheese." At Wills's and 
at "Button's," in Great Eussell 
Street, across the way, Joseph Ad- 
dison h£ld forth in his happiest 
manner. Bichard Steele was an- 
other literary light at Button's; 
11 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

so was Jonathan Swift. Little 
"Essay-on-Man" Pope was yet an- 
other, but he lasted only a year, 
leaving in disgust, because his irri- 
table temper made him unpopular. 
Davenant, the first man to put 
scenery on the English stage, Carey, 
Ambrose Philips, and many lesser 
lights, drank Button's coffee. Later 
on, every London street had its 
coffee-house. At one time, there 
were three u Tom's v coffee-houses 
in London; but the " Tom's " in 
Birchen Lane was the favorite, for 
that was patronized by the actor 
David Garrick; the green-apple 
poet, Akenside; poor little Ohat- 
terton, on a few occasions ; Edmund 
Burke, Boswell, Beauclerk, and in- 
frequently, by the great Doctor 
Johnson. But, when another "Tom" 

12 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

opened up across the way from 
Billy Button's, Billy took to the 
small beer, for seven hundred of 
the nobility, literary, and political 
lights, at a guinea a throw, were 
the subscribers to it, which meant 
$35,000 a year for Tom. That 
Tom's coffee was the finest in Eng- 
land, and it was drunk and eaten, 
for Charles James Fox swore that 
it could be carved, in its thick rich- 
ness. 

In the reign of Queen Anne, Lon- 
don's coffee-houses really began to 
multiply. "Squire's" coffee-house 
was famous in Anne's time, for there 
" Sir Boger de Coverley " drank cof- 
fee with the " Spectator." That is, 
Messrs. Addison and Steele got to- 
gether. 

New Orleans used to be the first 

13 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

place in tlie whole world for pure 
coffee. The old French market 
there was wont to be alive, from 
early morning to almost high noon, 
with coffee-drinkers. Every family 
in New Orleans was a coffee-drink- 
ing family. 

Boston, before, during, and after 
the Eevolution, had many coffee- 
houses, as had Yirginia and New 
York. Burns's coffee-house, north- 
west of Bowling Green, the present 
site of the Stevens House, was the 
first in New York. " The Liberty 
Boys " met there, and brewed dark 
plots for the overthrow of George 
the Third. The Merchants' coffee- 
house, also known as < 4 The Mer- 
chants' Exchange," stood at the 
foot of Wall Street. " The Tontine 
Coffee-house " was at the northwest 

14 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

corner of Wall and Water Streets, 
and was opened in 1792. 

Tea has always been women's 
favorite drink; coffee, men's. Dr. 
Johnson was one of the few famous 
men who preferred tea. Balzac^ 
the great novelist, was almost a cof- 
fee drunkard. He thought nothing 
of drinking twenty and thirty cups 
in a day, or a night, almost to the 
day of his death, in 1849, at the 
age of fifty. When he was poor, 
and lived in an attic, he made it 
himself. When he could afford it, 
the best chef in Paris made it for 
him. Flaubert, Hugo, Baudelaire, 
Paul de Koch, Theophile Gautier, 
Alfred de Musset, Zola, Bernhardt, 
Copp£e, Guy de Maupassant, and 
Francis Saltus, were all tremendous 
drinkers of the juice of the delicious 

IB 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Arabian berry; and George Sand 
smoked cigarettes and drank coffee 
to the last. Can more be said for 
coffee, when the works of that 
group are remembered ? Yes : 

Coffee makes a sad man, cheerful; 
a languorous man, active; a cold 
man, warm ; a warm man, glowing ; 
a debilitated man, strong. It intoxi- 
cates, without inviting the police ; 
it excites a flow of spirits, and 
awakens mental powers thought to 
be dead. Europe, the Elizabethan 
dramatists aside, was not witty 
until coffee got in its fine work. 
The most brilliant men the world 
has ever known have been coffee 
drinkers. Coffee clears the mind 
of vapors ; the brain of cobwebs ; 
the heart of pain ; the soul of care. 
It invigorates the faculties, and 

16 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

makes an old man young. It is 
the terror of advancing age. Cred- 
itors fly from it ; debtors cry for it. 
When coffee is bad, it is the wick- 
edest thing in town; when good, 
the most glorious. When it has 
lost its aromatic flavor, and appeals 
no more to the eye, smell or taste, 
it is fierce ; but when left in a sick 
room, with the lid off, it fills the 
room with a fragrance only jacque- 
minots can rival. The very smell 
of coffee in a sick room terrorizes 
death. 

One pound avoirdupois of good 
coffee, properly roasted and ground, 
weighs only fourteen ounces: but 
those fourteen ounces will make 
fifty-six cups. One full cup of cof- 
fee ought to contain 108 grains 
troy, or a little less than a quarter 

17 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

of an ounce. Milk kills the flavor. 
Cold cream is the companion to 
coffee. Eemember now, cold ! Al- 
ways use sugar in coffee. Sugar 
is nourishing. It is f attening, and 
enriches the blood. It is used 
often to fatten cattle, and u cops." 
Watch a horse eat sugar. Dumb 
animals know by instinct what is 
good for the blood and stomach. 

Sailors are great coffee drinkers, 
and who are healthier ? Good 
brown sugar is as wholesome as 
loaf sugar — or, a little wholesomer ; 
and it is as good for coffee. 

John Ernest MeCann. 



18 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



COFFEE. 

Voluptuous berry ! where may mortals find 
Nectars divine that can with thee compare, 
When, having dined, we sip thy essence rare, 

And feel towards wit and repartee inclined 1 

Thou wert of sneering, cynical Voltaire 
The only friend ; thy power urged Balzac's 

mind 
To glorious effort ; surely Heaven designed 
Thy devotees' superior joys to share. 

f 
Whene'er I breathe thy fumes, 'mid summer 
stars, 
The Orient's splendent pomps my vision greet. 
Damascus, with its myriad minarets, gleams! 
I see thee, smoking, in immense bazaars, 
Or yet, in dim seraglios, at the feet 
Of blonde sultanas, pale with amorous 
dreams ! 

Francis Salttjs Salius, 

in Flasks and Flagons, 




19 




OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



HOW COFFEE GROWS. 

HE coffee plant is a small 
tree covered with dark 
green lustrous leaves, 
at the base of which 
grows a pure white 
fragrant flower. 

The fruit is a small round red 
berry about the size and shade of 
a cherry. The tree, which varies 
in diameter from four to six inches, 
will grow to a height of from twenty 
to thirty feet. As a convenience in 
picking the fruit, however, it is not 
permitted to grow higher than eight 
or nine feet. At that height its 
tops are cut off, causing it to spread 
out instead of growing up. 

20 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

The tree will bear at three or 
four years of age, reaching its full 
fruition at seven years, when it will 
yield two to three pounds of berries. 

The berry, when ripe, is made up 
of five parts in which are contained 
two beans* which lie within, face to 
face. 

The principal coffee producing 
countries are Brazil, Java, the 
island of Sumatra, Ceylon, India, 
Mexico, Liberia, Porto Eico, Cuba, 
Philippine Islands, and Arabia. 
Brazil grows one-half of the world's 
supply, Arabia — Mocha coffee — is 
said to raise the finest, and Java 
the most universally popular. 

* Except in the pea berry or male berry, 
in which only one bean is found, and differs 
from the other beans, in that it has an oval 
appearance . It is also supposed to be stronger, 
and for that reason sells for about two cents 
per pound more than the flat bean. 

21 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Our new possessions, Porto Eico 
and the Philippines, are said to grow 
coffee equal to the best that Java 
produces. The flavor of Porto Eico 
coffee especially has been highly 
commended. Owing to a variety 
of reasons, however, this coffee has 
never had the opportunity to "show 
off ?? in America as it should. Let 
us hope that it will, for Porto Eico 
has been a good child of the Ee- 
public thus far, and anything pro- 
duced there deserves well of us. 



A Frenchman always finishes 
his dinner with a demi tasse. An 
American usually tops off his black 
coffee with a glass of water. Why 
is this % Is it possible that the 
a chaser " — " hustler w is unknown 
in Paris % 

22 




OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



COFFEE CUSTOMS. 

s^§\ VEEY civilized country 

\ on tlie globe has its own 

coffee ways, its own way 

'of making, serving and 

drinking tlie berry. 

The countries, however, where 

coffee is featured or looked upon 

as a standard beverage, all have 

their distinct coffee customs. 

This is easily understood when 
every one knows that coffee, with 
or without its social accompani- 
ments, is the most adaptable of all 
drinks. In its raw state it will keep 
in any climate, is easily prepared, 
and in so many ways. This is one 
of the reasons why it can be quickly 

23 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

made to conform to the character- 
istics, the tastes, and even the 
national temperament of different 
countries. 

Apart from this, and in spite of 
all that has been said, written or 
preached against it; coffee, as a 
wholesome stimulant, has always 
been since its discovery preemi- 
nently favored all over the world. 
No other bean, berry, leaf, root, or 
fruit can compare with it in this 
respect. Tea is good, but tea will 
ever lack the robust companion- 
ableness of the "little brown berry." 
Imagine a man making a proposal 
of matrimony over a cup of tea. 
What " manner of man " must he 
be who would do this ? 

Coffee, on the other hand, draws 
upon your vigorous imagination. 

24 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Literary devotees of the beverage 
have long ago verified this. The 
pages of history teem with fine 
figures, of whom it may be said 
that coffee was a strong factor in 
their inspiration and action. As 
men make history, so they dominate 
society, carrying with them into the 
halls of the most high that universal 
and cosmopolitan decoction — Coffee. 
And, so tea gives way to coffee 
as a social drink — tea, without its 
strenuousness, can be dismissed, as 
Shakespeare makes one of his char- 
acters say to another : 

" Let gentleness thy strong enforcement be." 

It is the social influence, therefore, 
coffee imparts that gives its great 
vogue. 

Excellent, however, as the coffee 
is that is served in some of the 

25 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

capitals of the Orient, in continen- 
tal Europe, by the Thames, or on 
the deep sea, the American globe- 
trotter, homeward bound, and per- 
haps a little homesick, will have 
recalled many a time before his 
journey is ended, the cup that 
a mother used to make." He will 
sigh for Sarah and her morning cof- 
fee, or long for u Alphonse," who 
smooths the cloth in the caf6, and 
knows to the minute when he is 
ready for his demi tasse. 

For they do some things over 
there that we never can quite get 
used to. 

Coffee in Turkey is prepared 
with great care, every coffee-house 
having a number of tiny long han- 
dled brass coffee-pots with a curved 
spout. When a cup of coffee is 

26 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

called for it is made to order in one 
of these coffee-pots after the follow- 
ing manner : The coff ee, after being 
finely powdered, is measured into 
one of these pots. Water enough 
to fill the pot is added, after which 
it is set upon live coals until it 
touches the boiling point. It is 
then, without straining, poured into 
a small cup ready to drink. It is 
a thick, muddy mixture, but the 
Turks swallow it — grounds and all 
— with relish and satisfaction. The 
flavor is said to be good, which may 
be accounted for by the fact that 
the coffee is roasted fresh every day. 
The Turks never put milk in their 
coffee, and sugar would be a crime. 
The European and American trav- 
eler, however, can obtain the latter 
as a favor — for a consideration — in 

27 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Constantinople, Cairo, and Alexan- 
dria. In the European hotels of 
these cities the coffee is made Turk- 
ish fashion — grounds in the cup — 
the sugar being put in the pot 
with the coffee, and boiled together. 
In Turkey, where the customs of 
the country are very elaborate and 
ceremonial, coffee figures as much 
in the Turk's affairs as do the 
affairs themselves. Coffee is the 
national drink, and they take it 
very seriously. It enters into life 
on every occasion, and for every 
purpose, social, diplomatic, or busi- 
ness the coffee-pot always plays its 
part. If a person makes a social 
call, coffee is the first greeting to 
the guest, and it speeds him on his 
way at parting. No business propo- 
sition is entertained, no contracts 

28 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

made or courtesies rendered with- 
out and until the fragrant cup has 
been sipped. Coffee and tobacco 
are the Turk's meat and drink. All 
over Turkey these coffee-houses are 
to be met with. In Smyrna and 
Constantinople they are as plenti- 
ful as the American corner bar- 
rooms, and they enjoy quite as 
much patronage. They consist usu- 
ally of one room opening to the 
street, or connecting the bazaar 
with a divan around three sides 
and rugs on the floor. Those sol- 
emn-faced Turks may be seen sit- 
ting cross-legged, sipping their fa- 
vorite beverage, and taking long 
puffs at their wonderful flexible- 
stemmed water bottles — the nar- 
ghileh or chibouque. 
The luxurious and magnificent 

29 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Turkish coffee-houses, if they ever 
have existed, exist now only in the 
imagination of poets and word- 
painting travelers. The opal pave- 
ments, diamond showered foun- 
tains, the perfumed air, and the 
party-colored lights stealing in, are 
all lacking in the Turkish creations 
of to-day. In short, their coffee- 
houses are about as ideal as the 
Turks themselves — a simple and 
serious and often grimy picturesque- 
ness, but no more. 

The Greeks also prepare their cof- 
fee Turkish fashion, serving with 
their little cup the narghileh, which 
is always filled awaiting the pleasure 
of the customer. The Greek coffee- 
house, however, differs from the 
Turkish, in that it has chairs and 
tables similar to those found in the 

30 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

cafes of Paris and other parts of 
Europe. Another feature of the 
Greek caffe is that they are often 
found out-of-doors ; their tables and 
chairs sometimes covering a public 
square. There the modern Hellene 
smokes and sips in the soft twilight 
of a summer evening, or drinks in 
the winter sunshine under a brilliant 
blue of glorious skies with which 
Nature has always canopied this 
historic land. 

The next coffee station is Paris. 
This is a big jump, but worth it, 
for following the coffee belt the 
next radical and important change 
in the custom of making and taking 
the beverage is in the City of Life. 
There coffee finds its best expres- 
sion, for are not the French ways 
of preparing the drink the stand- 

31 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

ard all over the civilized western 
world I 

Coffee drinking in Paris is not 
an incident of every day as it is in 
America and England. It is a 
factor, for everybody drinks, and 
u drinks hearty/' of the cup that 
u warms the heart." 

The average Frenchman's day 
without coffee would be stale, flat, 
and unprofitable, indeed. Begin- 
ning the morning meal with his 
large cup of u cafe au lait," a bite 
of bread and a bit of butter, before 
his day is ended he will have con- 
sumed many cups of his favorite 
beverage. He takes it in some 
form on every occasion where the 
u inner man " is looked after— ma- 
terially, mentally, and spiritually. 
These occasions are often — often. 

32 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

At his mid-day meal coffee is al- 
ways in evidence; before dinner 
it is taken as an appetizer, after 
dinner his little cup of black coffee 
is slowly sipped to the accompani- 
ment of music, conversation, or 
dreams. 

During the day it does not take 
much persuasion — or a Frenchman 
can easily persuade himself — to ad- 
journ to the cafe. In company with 
a friend "over the coffee" he is 
king for the time, and his little table 
is a throne. Conversation of all 
kinds is indulged in — business, poli- 
tics, war, the last play, the current 
scandal, his latest conquest — over 
all these the Frenchman can make 
merry, for coffee is a happy drink — 
as the French make it. 

If he is alone, and is tired of 

33 




OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

himself, the cafe affords him rest 
and recreation. Inside he may pore 
over the papers ; outside, or close to 
the curb, he may view the panorama 
of pretty women — he is fond of that 
—fine turnouts, and other features 
of his boulevard lif e — always varied, 
picturesque, Ml of color, life, gay- 
ety. No wonder the cafes in France 
prosper. Although coffee is the 
piece de resistance of these places, 
it is not the only attraction, for one 
can obtain there at all times the 
best of foods and drinks. So, every- 
body goes to the cafes — politicians 
and priests, pretty girls, players, 
boulevardiers, bankers, and authors 
and artists from all countries, and 
each in his own little world. Paris 
is made up of these contrasts. They 
do not clash in the cafes. Good 

34 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

nature, good manners, are every- 
where, and thus are these houses of 
entertainment a fertile field for the 
traveler to study the cosmopolitan 
life, character, manners, and cus- 
toms of the world. 

In other parts of Continental Eu- 
rope, particularly in Italy and 
Spain, the French method of mak- 
ing and serving the beverage gener- 
ally prevails. The coffee establish- 
ments in the capitals of these coun- 
tries do not, however, pretend to 
the elegance and comforts to be 
found in those places of the city by 
the Seine. There are a few, how- 
ever, in both these countries that 
are worth while. In Eome they 
are the " guiding stars " of the 
city — landmarks which every one 
knows and which every one hopes to 

35 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

visit. In your walks about the city 
you see them going and coming. 
If you take breakfast at any of 
them you will probably return for 
dinner, for the traveler in Kome, 
beset by beggars and embryo-ban- 
ditti, will be glad to return after a 
day of sight - seeing to the caf 6 
where he can view the people u on 
their native heath " in their best 
manner, and their happiest mood, 
for the Italian at play is a cheerful 
creature — romantic, dreamy, senti- 
mental. 

In Madrid, the influence of the 
cafe over the Spaniard is much the 
same. The typical Spaniard, how- 
ever, is a happy-go-lucky dog. Ca- 
lamities of war, family troubles, a 
neighbor's misfortune, can be quick- 
ly dismissed by him if there is a 

36 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

bull fight on. In the evening he 
will round up at the caf£, forgetful 
and buoyant. There, in the atmos- 
phere of senoritas and smiles, he 
may be seen taking his coffee, 
smoking, playing cards, reading 
the newspapers, conversing, gestic- 
ulating. If the coffee is not wanted, 
there are a great variety of wines, 
liquors, and mixed drinks to be 
had. What American who has ever 
dipped into the liquid mysteries of 
the latter will ever forget them I — 
those combinations of milk and sweet 
almonds, frothy creams of choco- 
late, little loafs of white sugar, and 
lemon juice. 

Germany and Austria are coffee- 
drinking countries, but perhaps 
there is not so much public con- 
sumption of these beverages in 

37 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

those countries as in other parts of 
continental Europe. Every one 
knows the national drink of Ger- 
many, and the snow-white confec- 
tions that surmount the coffee cups 
to be found in Vienna. In both of 
these countries, no matter what 
feature they may give to the brown 
berry, the spirit of the brew is said 
to be u after the French." Be that 
as it may, however, their coffee 
customs are all their own. In the 
ideal home-life of these nations they 
find their truest meaning. It is not 
necessary to go to Germany to find 
out what a " kaffee klatch " is. If 
there is a loyal family from the 
Fatherland on your block, and if 
your wife, or daughter, or sister 
is neighborly, she has been a guest 
at these gossips — those delightful 

38 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

talks among women, inspired by 
coffee — which have been respon- 
sible for the introduction into many 
American families of those deli- 
cious and wonderful dishes — potato 
salad, sauerkraut, frankfurters. 

They brew coffee in England 
badly and sadly. One can obtain 
a good cup of it in the best hotels 
and restaurants over there, but 
elsewhere in the u tight little isle n 
it is a decoction decidedly unworthy 
of the gods. Tea is their na- 
tional drink, and when it is said 
that they are the best tea makers 
in the world, the excellence of their 
"cup that cheers but not inebri- 
ates " — will forgive them much for 
their indifferent coffee. For in 
England : 



Tea reigns supreme, 

And '* bitter beer " is queen. 



39 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

But one will not have to wander 
very far afield in Europe to find a 
cup of coffee, which, if put before 
an epicure of the Bowery, would 
cause that individual — in the lan- 
guage of the street — to u trun up 
his hands." Coffee on the Conti- 
nent is good and bad. In America 
it is good and medium, and although 
it may be true, as some experts say, 
that a better quality of the berry 
is used beyond the u deep blue," 
many a traveler will testify to 
having met with plenty of parodies 
on the beverage ere he has returned 
to his own fireside. 

Coffee in America is generally 
good — unless one penetrates very 
far into the interior where ship- 
ments of the bean are few, and the 
u river water" has really a fine 

40 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

flavor. Along the lines of the lead- 
ing railroads at the station restau- 
rants, in any of the large cities at 
the best cafes and hotels, a cup of 
coffee is served, which, for aromatic 
quality and delicious flavor, is all 
that can be desired. Even in such 
places along the Bowery as a Beef- 
steak Harry's," or the " Eabbit 
Inn," although it may not always 
be the correct cup, it is drinkable 
and palatable enough not to destroy 
the delicate digestion of its denizens. 




41 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



COFFEE AND CRUMPETS. 

By Launcelot Littledo, of Pump Court, Temple, 
Barrister-at-Law. 

There's ten o'clock ! From Hampstead to the 

Tower 
The bells are chanting forth a lusty carol ; 
Wrangling, with iron tongues, about the hour, 
Like fifty drunken fishwives at a quarrel ; 
Cautious policemen shun the coming shower ; 
Thompson and Fearon tap another barrel ; 
"Dissolve frigus, lignum super foco. 
Large reponens." Now, come Orinoco ! 

To puff away an hour, and drink a cup, 
A brimming breaMfast-Gwp of ruddy Mocha— 
Clear, luscious, dark, like eyes that lighten up 
The raven hair, fair cheek, and bella boca 
Of Florence maidens. I can never sup 
Or perigourd, but (guai a chi la tocca !) 
I'm doomed to indigestion. So to settle 
This strife eternal,— Betty, bring the kettle ! 

Coffee ! oh, Coffee ! Faith, it is surprising. 
'Mid all the poets, good, and bad, and worse, 
Who've scribbled (Hock or Chian eulogizing) 
Fost and papyrus with "immortal verse"— 
Melodiously similitudinising 
In Sapphics languid or Alcais terse 
No one, my little brown Arabian berry. 
Hath sung thy praises— 'tis surprising ! very ! 

Were I a poet now, whose ready rhymes, 
Like Tommy Moore's, come tripping to their 

places- 
Keeling along a merry troll of chimes, 

42 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



With careless truth— a dance of fuddled Graces; 
Hear it— Gazette, Post, Herald, Standard, Times, 
I'd write an epic ! Coffee for its basis : 
Sweet as e'er warbled forth from cockney- 
throttles 
Since Bob Montgomery's or Amos Cottle's. 

Thou sleepy-eyed Chinese— enticing siren, 
Pekoe ! the Muse hath said in praise of thee, 
"That cheers but not inebriates"; and Byron 
Hath called thy sister "Queen of Tears, "Bohea! 
And he, Anacreon of Rome's age of iron, 
Says, how untruly ! "Quis nonpotius te." 
While coffee, thou— bill-plastered gables say- 
Art like old Cupid, ''roasted every day." 

I love, upon a rainy night, as this is, 
When rarely and more rare the coaches rattle 
From street to street, to sip thy fragrant kisses ; 
While from the Strand remote some drunken 

battle 
Far-f aintly echoes, and the kettle hisses 
Upon the glowing hob. No tittle-tattle 
To make a single thought of mine an alien 
From thee, my coffee-pot, my fount Castalian. 

Then ! silken cap on head and feet on fender, 
In bootless, stockless, gowned and slippered 

ease, 
The day's long-fettered fancies free I render 
To dive or fly, like Ariel, where they please. 
While shapes, fantastic as the Witch of Endor 
Called up for Saul— grim faces, houses, trees- 
Fancy, with many a fantastic miracle, 
Builds in the fire— I grow satirical. 

I think they've mystified the Spanish function ; 
I found a deal of stuff in our debates 

43 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



(Enough to spoil an ostrich's digestion) ; 
I'm sure Jack Cade would like my lord's estates ; 
I think the " dear defunct" M. P. for Preston 
Knew not his trade so well as do his mates- 
Patriots who gather from a land of paupers 
A good twelve thousand pound a year in coppers. 

I think this age of paint and plaster, 

Puff and spun sugar, like a French confection; 

Where system and opinions wear out faster 

Than the new fashions,— taking their complex- 
ion 

From yesterday's review— their code ! their 
spaster ! 

Until to-morrow make a new election ; 

While authors gather up the fame of sages, 

By petty larceny from title pages. 

I think there's naught so nauseous under 

heaven 
As condescension from the pseudo-wise ! 
Fellows, with just enough of mental leaven 
To make them think they ought to patronize— 
Great men! whose very how-d'-ye-do's are 

given 
As favors which young talent can't hut prize ; 
While o'er each hurly breadth of face there 

glows 
The pomp of sapience, bright as Bardolph's 

nose. 

I think of Mary, and her eyes of blue, 

Soft as the moonlight, with their placid lustre 

From the long downcast eyelash stealing 

through ; 
Her sunny hair, in many a heedless cluster, 
Around those smooth round shoulders, that in 

hue, 

44 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



But for the life that warms them, might pass 

muster 
Amid Joscara's fairest stone antiques, 
For some bright marble modeled by the Greeks. 
I think me of the ball of yesternight. 
And how, upon the waltz's giddy wings, 
Through yielding throngs we held our whirling 

flight, 
Our happy gossip on a thousand things ! 
The new balloon— it's late advent'rous flight- 
How Croly preaches, and how Grisi sings— 
Poor laws and pancakes, and the last new 

fashion : 
And then I think of Mary— in a passion. 

The dance was done— we'd lounged in a qua- 
drille, 
Romped a mazurka, twirled a waltz, and 

shuffled 
A gallopade— then in sweet converse still, 
On ottoman remote, in low and muffled 
Tones, that the ear of curious spinster ill 
Could catch— she smoothed her satin pinions, 

ruffled 
Amid the dance— until she thought of supper 
Brought us to earth's dull regions from the 
upper. 

Gunter, great man I had done his glorious best 
To warm the chilly heart of old December, 
And please the tooth of each fastidious guest— 
This, coilles aux trujfle—th&t, Souffe de 

Gingembre— 
Here, Paneir de Chantilly. For the rest 
So glittering all and sweet I can't remember— 
Oelees and tourtes, and cremes, ad infinitum— 
'Twas easier work by far to eat than write 'em. 

45 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



Light airy tilings ! the lengthened table glows 

With gastronomic poesy ; the wit 

Of eating, that enlivens its dull prose ; 

Jests en compote, and quips en creme, that hit 

The dullest fancy : edible bon mots ! 

Ambrosial epigram they seem, just fit 

For ladies' lips— created hot and hot 

At once, without a stewpan, by a thought. 

Women, methinks, should leave to bearded 

fellows 
Gross legs of mutton, bound by fancy's law 
To pabulum like this, with light bucellas— 
Sherbet and candy, crumpets and howqua— 
(Mingled of forty various chops that tell us 
The lightest, sure that Leadenhall e'er saw) ; 
Oh ! what a pang within one's heart awakes, 
That horrid bathos— beauty and beefsteaks ! 

Mary and mutton chops !— antithesis 
Most antithetical like lovers' quarrels ; 
Sense and sixteen ; or garlic and a Mss ! 
Or great Apollo, with his lyre and laurels, 
Laid up with the rheumatics ; or (than this 
More antithetic still) a placeman's morals ! 
Congratulations when affairs have gone ill, 
Fraser and dullness ! Courage and O'Connell. 

But, soft the supper ! Well, despite the weather, 
We sipped on ice, and flirted with a trifle, 
And laughed and chatted with our curls 

together, 
Till, somehow, sighs unbidden came to stifle 
Our mirth at mirthf ullest. I can't tell whether 
'Twas her blue eye went through one like a rifle, 
Or whether, hearing, by St. Paul report, 
" Past two," I thought of parting and Pump 

Court. 

46 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



I sighed, and she— but whether she was only- 
Wishing St. Paul's were back again at nine, 
And I to think Pump Court so very lonely, 
Are matters that my mem'ry can't divine. 
Silent she sat, her blue eyes downward thrown, 

lay 
In her curls' shadow. " Take a little wine." 
She started from her reverie, and said, 
As shaking back her clust'ring ringlets, " Red!" 

" There is a tide in the affairs of men," 
Said Shakespeare long ago, and I believe it ; 
The worst on 't is, it ebbs and flows again 
Ere we, poor purblind mortals, can perceive it. 
" Our life's a mingled warp," and now and then 
A thread will foil us, howsoe'er we weave it. 
Red ! Fate was lurking in those letters three. 
Alas ! 'twas no " red-letter " day for me. 

Oh, port ! thou black Cocytus ! liquor stygian ! 
True Acheron ! the old one was a fable. 
I proffered her the glass when some " base 

Phrygian," 
Yearning with burly bulk across the table, 
Bent to indulge his filthy love for widgeon, 
Impinged upon my elbow— (how unstable 
One's brightest hopes— ah, me! unhappy varlet)! 
Lo ! her white satin gown, turned up with 

scarlet. 

Her fair smooth cheek turned ruddy like the 

wine, 
And then her lip turned pallid like the satin ; 
I felt my heart, and all its hopes divine, 
In schedule A, like Boroughbridge or Gatton : 
And, then, the flashing eye she turned on mine ! 
Oh, then no word in Magyar, Dutch, or Latin, 

47 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



I'd wager Bowring twenty pounds (and win it), 
Could shadow forth the wrath that burned 
within it. 

Oh, woman ! woman ! oh, thou dear deceit ! 
Clad in thy sunny robe of smiles— oh, who, 
Kneeling in love's allegiance at thy feet, 
Could see through placid eyes of heav'nly blue 
Aught in thy seraph soul to them unmeet ? 
Is there no alchymy to test the shrew 1 
Or must the gentle spinster be, indeed, 
A riddle that the wife alone can read ? 

Fair " country cousins " (if they're quite 

unbiased), 
Will sometimes read it off for one, like sphinxes ! 
A maiden aunt will sometimes guess the nighest, 
Her eye goes through and through one, like a 

lynx's ; 
A sister's kind assistance ranks the highest. 
But then she's doubted by the cunning minxes ; 
Lo ! here a test infallible provided,— 
Drench her white satin in old port, as I did. 

Gone is the dimpled mask ; the shrew displaces 
The angel we adored. As in a mirror, 
Astonished and aghast the lover traces 
A coming matrimonial " reign of terror," 
Lo! amid "wreathed smiles," and "loves and 

graces, 
The termagant revealed " et nullus error " 
" And no mistake." (The sentence is oracular, 
Though it sounds rather vulgar in vernacular.) 

Oh, Mary ! Mary, ere that fatal eve, 
And that more fatal glass— a glass too much- 
How did my muse, untutored try to weave 
A garland meet thy pale bright face to touch,— 

48 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Culling fair flower, without the owner's leave 
Out of the Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch, 
Irish and French, Hindostanee and German, 
From lay and legend, sonnet, song, and sermon. 

How earnest in the waltz or calm quadrille 
Did I not gaze, like seer for planet seeking, 
Into thine eyes' blue depths, so calm and still, 
To find therein some gentle hint for speaking, 
In meek submission to thy sov'reign will, 
The doubts and hopes with which my heart was 

breaking ; 
Oh, did I not, fear to " pop the question," 
Forget my briefs, and damage my digestion ! 

I thought thee gentle as the opening day ; 
A type of thee, the lily's blossom pale, 
Turning with downcast looks its cheek away 
From the too rude caress of passing gale. 
Alas, a thistle and its " Nemo me," 
Would, as thy emblem, tell a fitter tale ; 
Oh, Mary ! when I see those Scottish laurels, 
I always love, shall think of thee— and Quarles. 

Farewell, sweet hope of matrimonial blisses, 
Dawning upon me like the sunbeam rare, 
That struggling through tall chimney's inter- 
stices, 
Revisits, in high dog-days, my two pair ; 
Just leaves his card— is sorry, sure,— but this is 
His busy time— has not a day to spare- 
Will call again next midsummer. For me 
His yearly visit is a P. P. C. 

Ruling like Crusoe on his lonely shore 
King baohelor, in single blessedness, 
And blessed singleness, despotic o'er 

49 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



My little realm, than e'en his little, less. 
Its limits ; eighteen feet by twenty-four ; 
My royal throne, the easy chair I press ; 
The serfs I stretch my autocratic fist o'er, 
Betty the laundress, Tom the cat, and 
Christopher. 

A man in chambers !— oh, delightful phrase ; 
I shall forget sun, sky, and meadows green ; 
Forget thee, Mary ! and thy winning ways, 
Dear Argo-Dolce ! once my fancy's queen, 
And lived my merry round of nights and days 
In an unaltered, happy " deep serene " 
Of studies, suppers, sonnets, snacks and 

snoozes— 
My bride, the law— my handmaiden, the nfuses! 

'Tis thus I sit and sip, and sip and think, 
And think and sip again, and dip in Fraser. 
A health, King Oliver ! to thee I drink : 
Long may the public have thee to amaze her. 
Like Figaro, thou makest one's eyelids wink, 
Twirling on practised palm thy polished razor- 
True Horace temper, smoothed on attic strop ; 
Ah ! thou couldst "faire la barbe a toute 
I'Furope." 

Art thou a patron, too, of thin potations ! 
Or dost thou fill the cup of life with wine % 
Do Bacchus or Apollo club their rations, 
To braid thy wreath of laurel with the wine % 
Leav'st thou the grape-juice for its " poor 

relations," 
That fill so soberly this cup of mine % 
Or dost think with many (I bemoan 'em), 
A magnum filled with port, the magnum bomiml 

Come, Oliver, and tell us what the news is ; 
An easy chair awaits thee— come and fill 't. 

50 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



Come, I invoke thee, as they do the muses, 

And thou shalt choose thy tipple as thou wilt. 

And if thy lips my sober cup refuses, 

For ruddier drops the purple grape has spilt, 

We can sing, sipping in alternate verses, 

Thy drink and mine, like Corydon and Thyrsis. 

Bacchus is old— his godship's got the gout ; 
Pursy Silenus seems his elder brother ; 
Pic-nic a,n& petit souper, ball and rout, 
Have thinned his locks and shrunk his calf— his 

mother 
Would know not the wine king. We'll turn her 

out, 
And like les braves Parisiens, make another. 
Come thou discerning public— Ayes and Noes. 
Aye ! the Ayes have it. Fiat ! out he goes ! 

So down with Bacchus !— up with " Young 

Sobriety"! 
The jolly wine-king's dynasty decays : 
And glowing with a laudable anxiety 
To sack his sack, and burn him in the blaze, 
Each Jacobinic Temperance Society 
Comes chanting its teetotal Marseillaise ! 
Shrieking in one unanimous bravura, 
A bas le ministere vive aquapura ! 

A bas le bon vin ! Down with mirth and 

laughter ! 
Only do thou— whatever new regime 
(La meilleure des repvMiques) may come after- 
Make me thy laureate, and with " tea and 

cream," 
" Coffee and sugar candy," roof and rafter 
Shall ring where'er thy wat'ry honors beam ! 
In soft B flat, Haynes Bayley— like tea lyrics, 
Shall leave thy loyal subjects in hysterics. 

51 



OVERTHE BLACK COFFEE 



LAUNCELOT LITTLEDO, LAUREATE, LOQUITER. 

Fill the bowl, but not with wine, 
Potent port or fiery sherry ; 
For this milder cup of mine 
Crush me Yemen's fragrant berry- 
Ellen ! Sally ! Kate ! Sabina ! 
Jane ! Lisette !— a string of pearls— 
Gaily quaff your brimming china. 
Here's a toast— y a hip, my girls ; 
" Heartstrings that with ours entwine "! 
Fill the bowl, but not with wine. 

Fill the bowl— but not with wine ; 
Tipple— Scian muse or Teran 
Never dreamed— be mine or thine ! 
Soft Pekoe ! the juice Cathaian. 
Gentle is the grape's deep cluster, 
But the wine's a wayward child ; 
Nectar this ! of meeker lustre— 
This the cup that " draws it mild." 
Deeply drink its streams divine- 
Fill the cup, but not with wine. 

Past twelve ! so late % a light ! a light ! 
I can't sit singing here all night. 
Pump Court. Fraser's Magazine, 1837, 




52 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



COFFEEHOUSES OF OLD 
LONDON. 



m 



ippi HE new beverage had its 
w Tr opponents as well as its 
advocates. The follow- 
ing extracts from " An 
Invective Against Coffee," published 
about the same period, 1652, in- 
forms us that Bosee's partner, the 
servant of Mr. Edwards' son-in-law, 
was a coachman, while it contro- 
verts the statement that hot coffee 
will not scald the mouth, and indi- 
cates the broken English of the 
Eagusan : 

A BROADSIDE AGAINST COFFEE. 

" A coachman was the first (here) coffee made, 
And ever since the rest drive on the trade ; 
' Me no good Engulask 7 and sure enough, 
He played the quack to salve his stygian stuff ; 

53 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

'Ver boon for the stomachy de cough, de phthisick,' 
And I believe him, for it looks like physio. 
Coffee, a crust, is charred into a coal, 
The smell and taste of the mock china bowl ; 
Where huff and puff, they labor out their lungs, 
Lest,Dives-like they should bewail their tongues . 
And yet they tell ye that it will not burn, 
Though on the jury blisters yon return ; 
Whose furious heat does make the water rise, 
And still through the alembics of your eyes. 
Dread and desire, you fall to 't snap by snap, 
As hungry dogs do scalding porridge lap. 
But to cure drunkards it has got great fame ; 
Posset or porridge, wilt 't not do the same ? 
Like Noah's, the clean and the unclean. 
And now, alas ! the drench has colder got, 
And he's no gentleman who drinks it not ; 
That such a dwarf should rise to such a stature ? 
But custom is but a remove from nature. 
A little dish and a large coffee-house, 
What is it but a mountain and a mouse "? 

Notwithstanding this opposition, 
coffee soon became a favorite drink, 
and the shops where it was sold 
places of general resort. There ap- 
pears to have been a great anxiety 
that the coffee-houses, while open 
to all ranks, should be conducted 
tinder such restraints as might pre- 

54 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

vent the better class of customers 
from being annoyed. Accordingly, 
the following regulations, printed 
on large sheets of paper, were hung 
up in conspicuous positions on the 
walls : 

"Enter, Sirs, freely, but first, if you please, 
Peruse our civil orders, which are these : 

First : gentry, tradesmen, all are welcome 

hither, 
And may without affront sit down together ; 
Pre-eminence of place none here should mind, 
But take the next fit seat that he can find ; 
Nor need any, if the finer persons come, 
Rise up for to assign to them his room ; 
To limit men's expenses, we think not fair, 
But let him forfeit twelve-pence that shall 

swear ; 
He that shall any quarrel here begin, 
Shall give each man a dish t' atone the sin ; 
And so shall he whose compliments extend 
So far to drink in coffee to his friend ; 
Let noise of loud disputes be quite forborne, 
Nor maudlin lovers here in corners mourn, 
But all be brisk and talk, but not too much ; 
On sacred things let none presume to touch, 
Nor profane Scripture nor saucily wroog 
Affairs of state with an irreverent tongue ; 
Let mirth be innocent, and each man see 
That all his jests without reflection be ; 

55 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

To keep the house more quiet and from blame, 

We banish hence cards, dice, and every game ; 

Nor can allow of wagers that exceed 

Five shillings, which oftimes do troubles breed; 

Let all that's lost or forfeited be spent 

In such good liquor as the house doth vent. 

And customers endeavor, to their powers, 

For to observe still seasonable hours. 

Lastly, let each man what he calls for pay, 

And so you're welcome to come every day." 

In a print of the period, five per- 
sons are shown in a coffee-house, 
one smoking ; evidently, from their 
dress, of different ranks of life; 
they are seated at a table, on which 
are small basins without saucers, 
and tobacco pipes, while a waiter 
is serving the coffee. 

In the year 1674, a "Women's 
Petition Against Coffee," complains 
that coffee u made men as unfruitful 
as the deserts whence that unhappy 
berry is said to be brought ; that 
the offsprings of our mighty ances- 

56 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

tors would dwindle into a succession 
of apes, pigmies," etc. 

In a humorous poem published 
in 1663, the writer wonders why 
any one should prefer coffee to 
canary. He call them English apes, 
and recalling the days of Beaumont, 
Fletcher, and Ben Johnson, says of 
them : 

" They drank pure nectar as the gods drink too, 
Sublimed with rich Canary ; say, shall then 
These less than coffee's self, these coffee-men, 
These sons of nothing, that can hardly make 
Their broth for laughing, how the jest doth take, 
Yet grin, and give for the vine's pure blood 
A loathsome potion— not yet understood, 
Syrup of soot, or essence of old shoes, 
Dasht with diurnals or the book of news "! 

When the following poem was 
written Pope was under twenty 
years of age. That it was the out- 
growth of a sincere admiration for 
the berry there is no doubt; for, 
in Carruthers' u Life of Pope," he 

57 



OVER THE BLACKCOFFEE 

mentions that at this early period 
Pope seems to have depended for 
relief from headache to the steam 
of coffee which he inhaled for the 
purpose throughout the whole of 
his life. — From "Early Coffee-Houses 
in Club Life of London." 

As long as Mocha's happy tree shall grow, 
While berries crackle, or while mills shall go ; 
While smoking streams from silver spouts shall 

glide, 
Or China's earth receive the sable tide, 
While coffee shall to British nymphs be dear, 
While fragrant steams the bended head shall 

cheer, 
Or grateful bitters shall delight the taste, 
So long her honors, name and praise shall last. 
Alexander Pope. 




58 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



A FEW RECEIPTS. 

To Make Coffee the Good Old 
American Way. 

Take a teacup full of finely 
ground coffee for every five persons, 
varied according to the strength 
desired. Break into it an egg with 
shell, and mix thoroughly. Add a 
teacupful of cold water and mix 
again. Pour on a quart of boiling 
water and boil for ten minutes. 
Pour in a teacupful of cold water 
and let it stand three minutes to 
settle. Decant into a warm urn and 
serve immediately in warm cups. 
Use cream, condensed milk, or boil- 
ing milk. Have all the utensils 
used perfectly clean. 

59 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Eemember that the grounds left 
in the coffee will spoil it in five 
minutes, and that coffee made longer 
than ten minutes loses its aroma, 
and is spoiled. — The receipt of the 
largest coffee importing house in the 
United States. 

Cafe Noir — Black Coffee. 
For one ordinary cup take 
two tablespoonMs of coffee. 
Put in strainer, pressing down 
slightly. Pour on boiling hot 
water, put on cover, and leave 
the water to filter through for 
about eight minutes. If too 
strong dilute with hot water 
to suit taste. 

Cafe au Lait — Coffee with Milk. 
Make the same as cafe noir. 
Serve in equal proportions of coffee 

60 





OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

and milk. Pour in a little coffee 
and the same quantity of milk, 
alternating in this way until the 
cup is filled. 

Vienna Coffee. 
Use one heaping tablespoonful 

of coffee for ordinary sized cup. 

Prepare the same as Caf6 Noir. 
When serving to two parts of 
coffee and one part of hot milk 
add a tablespoonful of whip- 
ped cream which will float on 
top of the coffee. This will 
give a charming effect and 
add a delightful confection to 
the coffee. 



61 




OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



COFFEE AND CRULLERS. 

NEVEB knew his 
name, but I always 
called him " Coffee and 
Crullers/ 7 to myself. I 
first saw him ten years 
ago, on my way to Wall Street, 
coming out of a u coffee and cake " 
saloon on Park Bow, near what is 
now known as the entrance to the 
Brooklyn Bridge, and for many 
mornings I saw him. One morning 
I missed him at the head of the 
coffee and cake cellar, but met him 
a few minutes later in front of the 
Park Bow entrance to the Post 
Office, in the middle of the sidewalk, 
with legs far apart, and face to the 

62 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

north, crying, in weak tones, the 
morning papers. For eight years 
he was there, in fair weather and 
foul, and, it seemed, with the same 
bundle of papers under his arm. 
We never exchanged a word, but 
his weary old eyes always lighted 
just a trifle when I appeared. I 
always bought a paper, but there 
was something in the old eyes which 
warned me not to go away without 
my change when I tendered him a 
nickel. One morning he was not 
there. The following morning a 
lad met me, and led me to his den. 
He was booked for the long journey. 
His thin, gray hair, seemed to have 
grown a shade or two grayer since 
I last saw him. His surroundings 
were uncompromisingly wretched. 
After we had talked a little while, 

63 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

I said: "My poor friend, it must 
have been coffee and crullers with 
you all your life"? He was silent 
for a long time, but a minute before 
he died, he said : u You mean cof- 
fee or crullers." 

John Ernest McCann. 




64 




OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



SOME COFFEEHOUSES OF 
OLD NEW YORK. 

LTHOUGH no tablets 
have been erected, monu- 
ments unveiled, or other 
^record of any kind to the 
memory of the first coffee-house in 
ISTew York, it was undoubtedly 
established in 1701. At any rate, 
there is a mention made in that 
year in the report of the trial of 
Colonel Bayard, charged with trea- 
son for taking part in the Leister 
troubles — of a meeting of citizens 
at the coffee-house. 

The earliest public notice of a 
coffee-house, appears in the first 
Kew York newspaper, the New YorJc 

65 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Gazette. The notice was inserted 
in that newspaper on July 28th, 
1729, and ran until August 11th, 
the following month. The adver- 
tisement referred to the coffee-house 
as the place "where a competent 
bookkeeper may be heard of." The 
notice does not mention the loca- 
tion of the coffee house, but every 
" mother's son " must have known 
where it was, just as every village 
boy to-day knows where the Town 
Hall, Post Office, and public hitch- 
ing-posts of his native place are. 

On March 1st, 1730, a notice 
appeared in the Gazette, which 
gives a clue to the location of the 
coffee-house. The notice reads that 
a sale of land by public vendue 
will take place at the Exchange 
Coffee-house. 

66 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

The map of the city at that time 
shows that the Exchange was at 
the foot of Broad Street. Not a 
very pretentious building, it was 
constructed in 1690, and had for 
some years previous been used as a 
slaughter-house. It had been al- 
tered, however, and gradually be- 
came a place where traders and 
sellers congregated. It was a shed- 
like structure open on all sides — a 
roof erected on pillars, its front 
foundation resting upon the sea- 
wall. Leading from it in a straight 
line was the Long Bridge, which 
divided the Great Dock into two 
sections — the East and West Docks. 
The Great Dock extended from 
Whitehall to Countess Slip — Coen- 
ties Slip — and faced a large basin 
protected from the sea by a cres- 

67 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

cent shaped breakwater. This ba- 
sin was a favorite resting place for 
vessels. The buildings on the river 
front in the vicinity sprang up 
rapidly, and small taverns for the 
accommodation of captains and 
crew lined the shores — a delightf ul 
breathing spot overlooking the bay, 
and affording a view of a wooded 
island (Governor's), and a green 
vista on the other side where 
" Greater N ew Yorkers " now sleep, 
and trolley cars run up and down. 
The Exchange Coffee-House was, 
doubtless, in the vicinity, but just 
where, it has never been recorded, 
for the reason that with the in- 
crease of commerce the trade of the 
neighborhood encroached upon its 
peaceful surroundings, and drove 
the coffee-house and its patrons 

68 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

further up the shore line. Wherever 
it was located it was a favorite 
place for meetings of the friends 
of the church and state, the ruling 
administration, etc. A peaceful re- 
sort, as a whole; but, as there 
has probably never been a public- 
house of any kind in which some 
strife did not occur, it broke out in 
the coffee-house with a vengeance, 
which would have delighted the 
heart of our President Eoosevelt 
had he been on earth at the time 
to have taken part in the proceed- 
ings. 

In 1734 a public controversy arose 
in the coffee-house, which had had 
for its battlefield the two news- 
papers of the time — Bradford's New 
Yorlc Gazette, and Zenger's New 
York Weekly Journal. The Gazette 

69 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

was the Governor's organ, the 
Weekly the paper of the opposition. 
It was a lively affair, and feeling 
ran so high that the court party- 
was driven to desperation by the 
ridicule and charges heaped upon 
it by the democratic journal, which 
by no means observed all the 
ethics of public society in the things 
it said, the names it called, and the 
" low, abusive language " it used. 

Colonel Harrison, the recorder, 
who had felt the sting of the Journal, 
threatened to lay his cane over the 
back of Editor Zenger, who replied 
in regular newspaper spirit that 
" he wore his sword by his side." 
The upshot of the controversy was 
that after the court had refused to 
grant an order that " certain num- 
bers of the obnoxious journal be 

70 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

burned by the hangman," Zenger, 
the publisher, was thrown into jail. 

Zenger was tried in the spring of 
1735. Andrew Hamilton, a Phila- 
delphia lawyer of great reputation, 
astonished the court by appearing 
for the defense. Zenger was acquit- 
ted. It was a popular verdict, and 
was received with cheers. After 
the trial Mr. Hamilton was enter- 
tained in state, and the enthusiastic 
population followed him for a dis- 
tance on the morning of his depar- 
ture for home. 

From that time the Exchange 
Coffee-house had several locations 
and varying fortunes. In 1737 it 
was next door to the " Fighting 
Cocks," a tavern kept by John 
Cookes, which has been located by 
the Long Bridge. From 1737 to 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

1748 no notice of the coffee-house 
was made in the newspapers. In 
1750 it was known as the Gentle- 
men's and Exchange Coffee-house; 
and was kept at the sign of the 
King's Arms by Andrew Bamsay, 
in the vicinity of the Long Bridge. 
In 1753 the Gentlemen's Coffee- 
house had moved to Hunter's Quay, 
the water line, now Front Street, 
between the Old Slip and Wall 
Street. Mr. Payne, the proprietor, 
announced that he was selling Ma- 
deira, Geneva rum, arrack, tea and 
sugar from his house opposite the 
Old Slip Market at the sign of 
* Admiral Warren. After a short 



* No greater compliment could be paid a hero 
in those days than to picture his head and 
shoulders on a tavern sign. Sir Peter Warren, 
whose exploit, the capture of Louisburg, made 
him famous, was honored in other ways, viz., 
Warren Street was also named after him. 

72 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

period the Gentlemen's Coffee-house 
passed out of existence. 

Meantime the Merchants' Coffee- 
house had become a rival. It came 
under public mention on the 7th of 
November, 1743, in a notice of a 
house for sale. It stood on the 
southeast corner of Wall and Queen, 
now Water Street, on the site 
formerly occupied by the Journal 
of Commerce. 

The houses of that period were 
made of brick, and two or three 
stories high. They had gabled roofs, 
generally fronting on the street. 
Some had balconies on the roof, 
where the people used to sit during 
the summer evenings. On the 
bluish grey walls were pictures in 
small frames. On each side of the 
chimney was an alcove, and the 

73 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

wall under the windows was wain- 
scoted, with benches under it. 

Externally, the Merchants' Cof- 
fee-house was three stories high, 
deep enough to permit of a large 
room on the lower story, as well as 
a long room on the second floor, a 
feature of every public -house at 
that period. 

At that time when the coffee- 
house first opened its doors New 
York was in a prosperous condition. 
Party rage which had disrupted 
the province to such an extent to 
cause an almost total suspension of 
shipping, and empty houses for 
lack of tenants, had subsided, and 
the war with France gave new 
vitality to the city. 

Of all the coffee-houses of that 
time probably no other building 

74 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

has figured so prominently as a 
headquarters of historical associa- 
tions as the Merchants'. If a cata- 
logue of historical incidents and 
events were published, which had 
their inception in this famous house, 
it alone would make a fair sized 
volume. 

In the histories of the city, in 
magazine articles, and fugitive news- 
paper accounts these events have 
all been chronicled in one way and 
another, but, for all that, they de- 
serve a brief passing revival at this 
time — where changes take place so 
fast — simply as a comparison be- 
tween just now and then. 

During the war with France just 
referred to, the coffee-houses were 
busy places. The rage to go priva- 
teering became an epidemic. From 

75 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

1743 to 1748, no less than thirty 
vessels carrying from ten to twenty- 
four guns, scoured the high seas in 
quest of booty. Everything was 
forgotten for the new sport. The 
popular pastimes of the day — horse 
racing and cock fighting were aban- 
doned by the " bloods " of the city 
for the more adventurous career. 
So attractive was the sport that 
Lieutenant-Governor DeLancey 
wrote the London Board of Trade : 
"Men would no longer enter the 
army, and that the country was 
drained of many able bodied men 
by a kind of madness to go a priva- 
teering." 

In 1757 there were thirty-nine 
ships, carrying 128 guns, and man- 
ned by 1,050 men searching the 
seas. By January, 1758, there were 

76 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

brought into New York fifty-nine 
prizes. In spite of this, however, 
anxiety was felt for the safety of 
citizens. In 1755 a serious debate 
took place in the coffee-house as to 
"whether the channel should not 
be made narrower for defense of 
the city against large ships." 

Many citizens whose names are 
familiar to New Yorkers of to-day 
figured in the life of the province. 
Among these were Philip Living- 
ston, Isaac Low, both delegates to 
the First Continental Congress ; 
Gerald William Beekinan, Elias 
Desbrosses, and Henry Eemsen. 
The Bayards were sugar refiners in 
Wall Street. Isaac Boosevelt also 
had a similar business near Franklin 
Square ; the Lispenards had a brew- 
ery on the North Eiver, and the 

77 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Kutgers a rival establishment on 
the East Eiver. 

From the year 1765, in which 
history was made fast, the coffee- 
house figured as a background. 
During the Stamp Act excitement 
a paper was read from the balcony 
of the coffee-house, calling upon the 
people to suppress riots. Isaac 
Sears, an old privateersman, and 
a popular leader, addressed the 
mob, and in a few days peace was 
restored. 

Strange to say, it has not been 
possible to ascertain definitely the 
names of any proprietor of the Mer- 
chants' Coffee-house for twenty-five 
years. The name of Alexander 
Smith "in from the coffeehouse" 
figures. Later, a widow Smith lived 
in a small building in the rear of 

78 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

the coffee-house in 1759, but there 
is no connecting link to show that 
she was the widow of the above. 

On the 5th of January, 1770, the 
great subject which claimed public 
attention, whether the ballot should 
be open or secret, was discussed in 
the Merchants' Coffee-house at a 
meeting held at midday. 

In 1771, Dr. William Browne- 
John, the owner of the building, 
offers the coffee-house for sale. It 
was occupied then by Mrs. Mary 
Ferrari, a widow, who gave it up in 

1772, and opened up a new coffee- 
house across the street. Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Wragg succeeded her. In 

1773, Nesbitt Deane owned the 
place. In that year a written no- 
tice was posted on the walls of the 
coffee-house, promising destruction 



OVER THE BLACK COFFE.E 

to any one who should " accept of 
commission, or be in any way ac- 
cessory thereto." 

The notice referred to the East 
India Company's shipment of tea 
which was then announced to be on 
its way, contrary to the non-impor- 
tation agreement. 

On April 18, 1774, Oapt. Lockyer, 
who commanded the " Nancy," with 
a cargo of tea, was sighted. The 
Sons of Liberty met him, and, al- 
though he was permitted to come 
to the city to obtain supplies, he 
was turned back to sea. A com- 
mittee of the " Sons," with the cof- 
fee-house as a starting place, saw 
him off amid the music of a band, 
the hurrahs of the people, and the 
firing of guns. 

For a few years following the 

80 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

coffee-house sank into a kind of de- 
cline, but in the winter and spring 
of 1776 it came to the fore again. 
In that year the American Army- 
occupied the city. In May, 1776, 
Cornelius Bradford took possession 
of the coffee-house. He was a good 
landlord, but a better patriot, how- 
ever, and in September he left with 
the troops under Washington to go 
to the front. The presence of the 
British Army gave a new life to 
the coffee-house at this period, and 
the place took on an entirely dif- 
ferent aspect. The neutral mer- 
chants mingled more or less with 
the redcoats in the coffee-house, but 
the loyal tradesmen flocked by them- 
selves. 

In 1779 members of the Chamber 
of Commerce engaged the Long 

81 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Eoom in the coffee-house for their 
meeting. It was then kept by Mrs. 
Smith, who had the place two years. 
In 1781 James Strachan, who had 
kept the Queen's Head Tavern on 
the dock, became its proprietor. 
Although he had a fair patronage, 
he was not successful in his venture. 
Cornelius Bradford, the exiled pa- 
triot, who had lived near Ehinebeck 
during the occupancy of the British, 
having returned to New York in 
the above year, again became pro- 
prietor of the Merchants' Coffee- 
house. 

By his enterprise, and because 
of the original ideas he introduced 
in tavern keeping, he soon made 
the place a centre of attraction. 
During his landlordship the coffee- 
house touched the highest point in 

82 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

its popularity. It was the head- 
quarters of merchants and trades- 
men. The neighborhood resumed 
its importance, and became the 
centre of trade, commerce, and 
business activity. 

Bradford opened a book in which 
he entered the name of the arrivals 
and departures of all vessels to and 
from the port. He also installed a 
city register in which the merchants 
and others were requested to enter 
their names and residence — the first 
attempt to make a city directory New 
York had known. In the vicinity 
of the coffee-house, above and below 
Wall Street, were a row of build- 
ings occupied by auction shops, 
watchmakers, notary publics, and 
lawyers. The Bank of New York, 
the first institution of the kind in 

83 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

the city, was founded in the Mer- 
chants' Coffee-house. Societies and 
organizations of all kinds— military, 
political, social, financial, and mer- 
cantile met in the coffee-house. 
Among these were the Chamber of 
Commerce and Marine Society ; the 
Governors of the New York Hospi- 
tal held their annual election there. 
Socially, the Society of the Cin- 
cinnati, Grand Lodge of Master 
Masons, Societies of St. Patrick and 
St. Andrew, held forth in the coffee- 
house on stated occasions. The 
Marine Society entertained Con- 
gress there on the 19th of January, 
1785. 

On the 3d of February, in that 
year, the Chamber of Commerce 
also received the same body in the 
coffee-house at a formal entertain- 

84 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

ment officially accepted by the 
President and Congress. The toasts 
were thirteen in number, two of 
them being on the subjects : u Free 
Trade with all Nations," " May 
Persecuted Liberty in every Quarter 
of the Globe find an Asylum in 
America." 

Again, in 1785, the Governor of 
the State, Hon. Judge Jay, and 
other prominent citizens were the 
guests of the Irish at a dinner given 
in honor of St. Patrick in the coffee- 
house. Later, Evacuation Day was 
also celebrated there. The affair 
consisted of an elegant turtle sup- 
per, which was given to a select 
party of ladies and gentlemen. 
Patriotic toasts were drunk, and a 
ball concluded the entertainment. 

Cornelius Bradford died the next 

85 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

year at the age of fifty-seven. The 
New York Packet, in an obituary 
notice, said : u He was distinguished 
as a steady patriot during the ardu- 
ous contest for American Liberty, 
and that he always discovered a 
charitable disposition towards those 
who differed from him in sentiment." 
Bradford's widow continued to 
keep the coffee-house, and still re- 
tained the custom of the societies. 
Among the events which were cele- 
brated during her career as pro- 
prietor was the ratification of the 
Federal Constitution by the State 
Convention of Massachusetts, on 
the 8th of February, 1788. On the 
flag of the United States, which 
was unfurled from the coffee-house 
at sunrise, were the words : u The 
Constitution, September 17, 1787." 

86 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

Later in the day the emblem of 
Massachusetts, bearing the date of 
her admission, was hung out from 
the same building. 

On the 23d of April, 1789, a salute 
fired from the battery, announced 
the arrival of President Washing- 
ton. His reception took place in 
the coffee-house, to which he was 
escorted by the Governor, principal 
state officers and leading merchants, 
accompanied by an escort of mil- 
tary and citizens. 

In 1792 the Tontine Coffee-house 
was opened on the northwest corner 
of Wall and Water Streets. Due 
to the growth of the Chamber of 
Commerce, as well as the increase 
of merchants, larger quarters were 
required for their gatherings. The 
Tontine was erected for this purpose. 

87 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 




THE OLD TONTINE COFFEE-HOUSE. 

In 1793, Mrs. Bradford gave up 
her lease of the coffee-house and 
lived in retirement until her death 
in 1822. She was succeeded by- 
John Byrnes, who was the landlord 

88 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

until 1798, when he became pro- 
prietor of the Tontine. Edwin 
Bardin took the Merchants 5 Coffee- 
house, and remained there until 
1804. In that year the famous inn 
was burned to the ground. It was 
built of brick, and was worth $7,500. 
The Phenix Coffee-house was built 
on the site in 1806. John Byrne 
died while keeper of the Tontine in 
1780. Bardin kept the place from 
1812 to 1816, when he retired. He 
died in 1823 at the age of eighty- 
nine. Few public-houses have held 
so much history as the Merchants'. 
Peace to its pipe — ashes and — 
coffee — grounds. 



89 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



COFFEE ANECDOTES. 

Sow M. Grevy Got a Pure Cup of 
Coffee. 
In spite of the fact that the 
French first civilized and glorified 
coffee to its present high state of 
perfection, it is, nevertheless, true 
that this people adulterate the bev- 
erage to a great extent. Chicory 
especially is used freely in that 
country. The reason for it is given 
by some that a majority of French 
coffee drinkers prefer it with a dash 
of chicory to give the drink tone 
and body. Others claim that the 
large consumption of chicory in 
France is due to the native habit 
of economy so characteristic of that 

90 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

nation. Be that as it may, how- 
ever, chicory is a recognized ac- 
companiment to coffee there. Apro- 
pos of this, the following story told 
of the late M. Grevy will bear re- 
telling : 

Some years ago he and a friend, 
M. Bethmont, were among the 
guests of M. Menier, the chocolate 
manufacturer, at a hunting party. 
When they started to return from 
the hunt, through the forest, M. 
Grevy and his friend became lost, 
and, trying to get their bearings, 
fell upon a small wine house in 
their path. Tired out they stopped 
for rest and refreshment. They 
called for something to drink. 
Wine was brought, which M. Beth- 
mont found to his taste. As M. 
Grevy did not take wine, he asked 

91 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

for coffee. He was suspicious, how- 
ever, that the decoction which would 
be served him might not be pure, 
so he managed it in this way : 

"Have you any chicory"? he 
inquired of the innkeeper. 

" Yes ; Monsieur." 

u Bring me some." 

The proprietor returned with a 
small can of it. 

"Is that all you have?" again 
asked M. Gr&vy. 

"We have a little more, Monsieur." 

" Bring me all you have." 

Another can was brought in. 

"Is that all"? 

" Yes ; Monsieur." 

" Very good. Kow go and make 
me a cup of coffee." 



92 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

In America. 

The following is an American 
story: 

Coffeyville, Kansas, was known 
not so many years ago as a town 
of strong men and weak beverages. 
An eastern traveller who happened 
to be in the place during its pioneer 
hotel days, astonished the proprie- 
tor of the " Eagle House " there by 
the number of cups of coffee he 
consumed at one sitting. 

"You seem to be very fond of 
coffee," remarked the proprietor as 
he set the fifth cup of the beverage 
before his guest. 

"Only fairly so," replied the 
traveler gravely. "I never take 
more than one cup of it for break- 
fast. I am still in hopes of obtain- 
ing that quantity before I finish 

93 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

my meal. Will you kindly permit 
me to have a couple of more cups 
of your preparation." 

Literary Beverages. 

Famous literary men have all had 
their favorite beverages. 

Tea and coffee, however, head 
the list, and these two drinks, which 
the famous William Cobbett de- 
nounced as u slops," have been the 
means of spurring many a drowsy 
journalist to renewed energy. 

Voltaire, the king of wits and 
literateurs, was a confirmed coffee 
drinker. In his old age he often 
took fifty cups a day, which sadly 
hurt his digestion and hastened his 
death. Balzac never drank any- 
thing else but coffee, and during 
the early hours of the morning (for 

94 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

he began at twelve o'clock mid- 
night), he used to take copious 
drafts of this stimulating drink. 

Sir James Macintosh was so fond 
of coffee that he used to assert that 
the powers of a man's mind would 
generally be found to be propor- 
tional to the quantity of that stimu- 
lant which he drank. Cowper pays 
a tribute to tea in the Task, when 
he says " the cup that cheers but 
not inebriates." He was very fond 
of the Chinese beverage. But the 
king of tea drinkers was Samuel 
Johnson. On one occasion Sir 
Joshua Eeynolds reminded the great 
man that he had drunk eleven cups 
of tea, whereupon Johnson retorted : 
u Sir, I did not count your glasses 
of wine; why, then, should you num- 
ber my cups of tea " ? — Answers. 

95 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



LONDON COFFEEHOUSE 
ANECDOTES. 

BYDEN, as has already 
been noted, was the 
bright particular star 
of " Wills V called the 
father of all present 
clubs. It was located 
on the northwest cor- 
ner of Eussell and Bow 
Streets, and during its existence 
was the favorite resort of poets, 
wits, and men about town. 

Dryden was a Londoner to the 
backbone, and though he would 
sometimes talk grandly about his 
summer and winter seats, a closer 
acquaintance with the great man 

96 




OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

would merely resolve it into a 
whimsical reference to his arm- 
chair, which in winter had its set- 
tled place by the fireside, and in 
summer stood on the balcony. 
Among the frequenters of "Wills's" 
at that period, 1710, were John 
Gay, who wrote the ." Beggar's 
Opera "; Samuel Pepys, the Diarist; 
and Alexander Pope, who described 
Dryden as a " plump, taciturn man, 
with a fresh color and a down look." 
At Button's Coffee-house Addi- 
son reigned supreme. Button had 
been a servant in the Countess of 
Warwick's family, and when Addi- 
son married the Countess in 1716, 
he took her protege under his wing. 
There were times, however, when 
Addison and his wife did not always 
agree. They had quarrels, and 

' 97 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

whenever these occurred Addison 
religiously absented himself from 
Button's, and did not return until 
peace was once more restored in 
the family. 

Addison evidently felt more at 
his ease in a coffee-house than in a 
drawing-room, and his picture of 
Sir Koger de Ooverley at Squire's 
might have stood for his own por- 
trait. u He asked me if I would 
smoke a pipe with him over a cup 
of coffee. I accordingly waited upon 
him at the coffee-house. He had 
no sooner seated himself at the 
upper end of the high table but he 
called for a clean pipe, a paper of 
tobacco, a dish of coffee, a wax 
candle, and the Supplement, with 
such an air of cheerfulness and 
good humor that all the boys in 

98 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

the coffee-house — who seem to take 
pleasure in serving him — were at 
once on his several errands, inso- 
much that nobody could come at 
a dish of tea until the knight had 
got all his conveniences about him." 

Button's Coffee-house was the 
editorial office of the Guardian, and 
at the door was a memorable letter- 
box — designed of the painter Ho- 
garth — which, according to the 
Cornhill Magazine, was formed of a 
lion's head, down whose gaping 
jaws passed the contributions of 
Gay, Pope, and Steele. 

The Bedford Coffee-house, in Co- 
vent Garden, was another favorite 
place. Among the frequenters of 
this resort were the two Fieldings, 
Goldsmith, Churchill, Woodward, 
Lloyd, Hogarth, Foote, andGarrick. 

99 

LofC. 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

This celebrated resort once at- 
tracted so much attention as to 
have published "Memoirs of the 
Bedford Coffee -house," two edi- 
tions, 1751 and 1763. It stood 
u under the Piazza in Covent Gar- 
den," in the northwest corner, near 
the entrance to the theatre. 

In The Connoisseur, No. 1, 1754, 
we are assured that "this coffee- 
house is crowded every night with 
men of parts. Almost every one 
you meet is a polite scholar and 
a wit. Jokes and bon mots are 
echoed from box to box ; every 
branch of literature is critically 
examined, and the merit of every 
production of the press or perform- 
ance of the theatres weighed and 
determined." 

Foote and Garrick often met at 

100 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

the Bedford, and many and sharp 
were their encounters. 

One night Garrick and Foote 
were about to leave the Bedford 
together, when the latter, in paying 
the bill, dropped a guinea; and, 
not finding it at once, said : " Where 
on earth can it be gone to "! u Gone 
to the devil, I think," replied Gar- 
rick, who had assisted in the search. 
"Well said, David "! was Footers 
reply ; " Let you alone for making 
a guinea go further than anybody 
else." 

One of the last of the old coffee- 
houses to carry on business was 
the Chapter, in Paternoster Eow, 
which was finally closed in 1854. 
When Charlotte and Anne Bronte 
came to London in 1848, they went 
to stay there, having heard their 
101 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

father mention the place. This 
is probably the only time two women 
were seen there. 

Poor Ohatteron used to haunt the 
place, and the one solitary gleam 
of happiness that was shed upon 
his London life came to him there. 
u I am quite familiar at the Chapter 
Coffee-house," he wrote to his moth- 
er, "and know all the geniuses 
there. A character is now un- 
necessary, for an author carries his 
genius in his pen." 




102 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



COFFEE. 

O, boiling, bubbling berry, bean ! 
Thou consort of the kitchen queen- 
Browned and ground of every feature, 
The only aromatic creature, 
For which we long, for which we feel, 
T ^e breath of morn, the perfumed meal. 

For r hat is tea % It can but mean, 
Mer ly the mildest go-between. 
Insipid sobriety of thought and mind 
It " cuts no figure "—we can find- 
Save peaceful essays, gentle walks, 
Purring oats, old ladies' talks "— 
********** 
But coffee ! can other tales unfold. 
It's history's written round and bold- 
Brave buccaneers upon the " Spanish main," 
The army's march across the length'ng plain. 
The lone prospector wandering o'er the hill, 
The hunter's camp, thy fragrance all distill. 

So here's a health to coffee ! coffee hot ! 
A morning toast ! Bring on another pot. 

Arthur Gray. 



103 




OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



A RELIC. 

CCOKDING to H. D. Ellis, 
in a paper read before the 
Society of Antiquarians 
4n London, the coffee-pot 
here illustrated is one of the oldest 
of English makes now in existence. 
It bears the usual London hall 
mark for the year 1692, and the 
maker's mark is G. G., upon a 
shaped shield ; a mark which is 
recorded upon the copper-plate be- 
longing to the Goldsmith's Com- 
pany, on which is impressed the 
marks of those silversmiths who 
worked between 1675 and 1697. 

The names of these smiths are 
not recorded, but Mr. Cripp's con- 

104 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 

jectures that the mark G. G., is 
that of one George Garthorne, a 
member of a family of silversmiths, 
specimens of whose handicraft are 
in existence bearing hall marks 
which range between 1682 and 
1694. 

The pot was originally quite plain, 
and the decoration was added later, 
probably about the middle of the 
last century. 




105 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



THE DAY. 

But at last the lady makes a 
signal to the cavalier that it is time 
to leave the table. 

Spring to thy feet 
The first of all, and, drawing near thy lady, 
Remove her chair and offer her thy hand, 
And lead her to the other room, nor suffer longer 
That the stale reek of viands shall offend 
Her delicate sense. Thee with the rest invites 
The grateful odor of the coffee, where 
It smokes upon a smaller table hid 
And graced with Indian webs. The redolent 

gums 
That meanwhile burn, sweeten and purify 
The heavy atmosphere, and banish thence 
All lingering traces of the feast. Ye sick 
And poor, whom misery or whom hope, per- 
chance ! 
Has guided in the noonday to these doors, 
Tumultuous, naked, and unsightly throng, 
With mutilated limbs and squalid faces, 
In litters and on crutches from afar 
Comfort yourselves, and with expanded nostrils 
Drink in the nectar of the feast divine 
That favorable zephyrs waft to you ; 
But do not dare besiege these noble precincts, 
Importunately offering her that reigns 

106 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



Within your loathsome spectacle of woe ! 
And now, sir, 'tis your office to prepare 
The tiny cup that then shall minister, 
Slow sipped, its liquor to thy lady's lips ; 
And now, bethink thee, whether she prefer 
The boiling beverage much or little tempered 
With sweet ; or if, perchance, she like it best, 
As doth the barbarous spouse, then when she 

sits 
Upon brocades of Persia, with light fingers 
The bearded visage of her lord caressing. 

Guisseppe Parini. 

From William Dean Howells' " Modern Italian 
Poets." The above is a quotation from the 
translation of Parini's poem, " The Day," which 
celebrates The Morning, The Noon, The Even- 
ing, and The Night, of a gentleman of fashion 
as Milan knew him for fifty years in the last 
century. 




107 



OVER THE BLACK COFFEE 



ONE HUNDRED LAST WORDS 
ON COFFEE. 

The best stories that have ever 
been told have never been printed. 
The best stories that may ever be 
told will never know the immor- 
tality of type. They have not been, 
and they will never be, told over 
the oysters, soup, roast, entree, des- 
sert, — but over the coffee. The hus- 
band doesn't tell his wife his best 
story ; nor does she tell him her's ; 
nor do the editor and author their 
readers. It is the friend that tells 
the friend, as the aroma of the cof- 
fee opens the portals of his soul, 
and the story, long hidden, is 
winged for posterity. 

John Ernest McCann. 

108 



OCT io 



1902 



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